John Dewey's vision of education and of the school as a model for society was grounded in a commitment to collaboration. This view continues to inform the basic assumptions of progressive educators, especially in the USA. Collaboration in classrooms is offered as the basis and matrix for collaboration beyond them, in the civic realm. But the civic realm is a realm of struggle, and to overemphasize collaboration miseducates students as to its reality. This article explores Saul Alinsky's critique of the Deweyan vision of civic action, with its alternative understanding of the place of collaboration in civic engagement. For the powerless to be heard and heeded by the powerful, collective organization and skills for engaging in conflict in the public realm are key requirements.